Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The President of the Nigerian Senate, David Mark, on Friday said the legacies left by late South African President, Nelson Mandela, “would outlive generations globally”.

In a statement released in the Nigerian capital Abuja by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Senator Mark said “the former South African freedom fighter was one of the greatest Africans that ever lived.”

Describing Mandela as “a selfless leader who devoted his entire life to the emancipation of his people, and by extension African people”, Senator Mark urged African leaders and followers alike to emulate the exemplary legacies of Mandela which he said would outlive generations.

According to Mark, "It is my wish and hope that African people would emulate and sustain his legacies of forthrightness, commitment, honesty and uncommon selfless service to humanity."

Mark noted that Mandela lived for African people to get freedom, pointing out that “his death is painful, but we cannot question the will of God."

According to Mark, the life and times of Mandela are a lesson to all that “doing good and living for others is worth the trouble”.

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, added that Mandela was an epitome of democracy and selfless struggle.

Senator Ekweremadu said in a statement that “I join the rest of the world to pay tribute to a man who taught selflessness, sacrifice, forgiveness, and true love in our time in practical and profound ways."

He said Mandela demonstrated that a leader could transform a nation from a land of hate to one of love and equal opportunity in the shortest possible time, adding that a single term was more than enough for him to heal the wounds of apartheid, break the thick walls of animosity, and bring about racial harmony, solid multiracial democracy, and dramatic socioeconomic transformations in South Africa.